Fact Sheet

April 2010

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts regular five-year reviews on Superfund sites where cleanups have been completed. These reviews are required by the Superfund law [42 U.S.C. Section 9621 (c)].

EPA Region 7 has started the second five-year review of the Sheller-Globe Corporation Disposal site near Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa.

SITE BACKGROUND

The Sheller-Globe Corporation Disposal site is located in Lee County about 4 miles north of Keokuk, Iowa. It is also known as the Grimes Property site. The site includes a primary disposal area and a smaller secondary disposal area known as the North Hill disposal area. The North Hill disposal area was subsequently considered not to be a source of contamination. The primary disposal area is a 6.6 acre portion of the Site bordered by Airport Road (340th Street) to the south, 260th Avenue to the west, and unnamed intermittent streams to the north and east.

From 1948 until 1972, waste materials from the manufacture of rubber products and automobile components were taken to the site from the former Sheller-Globe Keokuk plant. The materials, including rubber products, wood, paper, plastics, and reportedly some solvents and paint sludge, were periodically burned and the ash spread over the hillsides. In 1972, the use of the site for disposal was discontinued and the area was covered with soil. In 1980, a house was constructed on the primary disposal area portion of the site. The residents of the house were permanently relocated in 1991 and it was demolished during site cleanup activities.

In October 1990, EPA and Sheller-Globe (now United Technologies Corporation) entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC). The AOC required Sheller-Globe to conduct a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) to determine the nature and extent of contamination at the site and evaluate alternatives to address contamination at the site.

The RI field activities included sampling of ash material, soil, surface water, sediment and ground water. The analytical results of the samples were used to characterize the risk that the site posed to human health and the environment. Work conducted as part of the RI and the human health and ecological risk assessments indicated metals found in the ash material at the primary disposal area portion of the site were the primary source of contamination.

In addition to the demolition of the house, construction of soil and vegetative covers over areas of exposed ash material in the primary disposal area portion of the site was also completed in November 1999 as part of the remedial action.

An Environmental Protection Declaration of Restrictive Covenants was recorded with the Lee County Recorder's office to prohibit the disturbance of the surface or subsurface of the primary disposal area portion of the site and prohibit residential use of the property.

Following the remedial action, periodic field inspections of the primary disposal area portion of the site have been conducted. The post-remedial action inspections have determined that there has been no significant disturbance of the ground surface, the vegetative cover has become established, and the property remains vacant.

The first five-year review was conducted in 2005 and concluded the remedy at the site to be protective of human health and the environment.

THIS FIVE-YEAR REVIEW

EPA will conduct an inspection of the site as part of the five-year review. Current site information will be reviewed by EPA to make sure the remedy continues to be protective.

We encourage the community to tell us about any site-related conditions or concerns.

A final report will be prepared at the end of the review and will be available in the site information repositories and on the EPA Region 7 Website.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Detailed site information is part of the Site Administrative Record and is available at the following locations during normal business hours: